


The Fall of Atlantis

by A Magiluna Stormwriter (ariestess)



Series: OQ Book Week 2020 [5]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Ancient Greece, Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Atlantis, Developing Relationship, F/M, OQ Book Week 2020 (Once Upon a Time), Platonic Soulmates, Romantic Soulmates, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-17
Updated: 2020-04-19
Packaged: 2021-02-23 15:10:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,237
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23713444
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ariestess/pseuds/A%20Magiluna%20Stormwriter
Summary: On what begins as another normal day in the Temple of the Light in the Ancient Land of the Sea Kingdom, the young Acolyte Regina meets the mysterious Lord Robin of Ahtarrath, a high ranking Priest of the Light, who seems to have ensnared her very soul and brought forth a terrible darkness that may well shake the very foundation upon which all life in the Sea Kingdom, from the Ancient Land to the great island of Atlantis itself, may not recover.
Relationships: Evil Queen | Regina Mills/Robin Hood
Series: OQ Book Week 2020 [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1706551
Comments: 12
Kudos: 2
Collections: OQ Book Week





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Date Written: 11 April 2020 - ??  
> Word Count: TBD  
> Written for: OQBookWeek 2020  
> Inspiration: _The Fall of Atlantis_ by Marion Zimmer Bradley  
> Summary: On what begins as another normal day in the Temple of the Light in the Ancient Land of the Sea Kingdom, the young Acolyte Regina meets the mysterious Lord Robin of Ahtarrath, a high ranking Priest of the Light, who seems to have ensnared her very soul and brought forth a terrible darkness that may well shake the very foundation upon which all life in the Sea Kingdom, from the Ancient Land to the great island of Atlantis itself, may not recover.  
> Spoilers: An ancient mythological AU set in the time of Atlantis, complete with soulmates and reincarnation. The characters we know are there, but not everything we know about them is necessarily the same.  
> Warnings: No standard warnings apply …so far.  
> Website: ShatterStorm Productions – Doggie Duo  
> Link to: http://bdkk.shatterstorm.net/  
> Archive: ShatterStorm Productions & AO3 only…all others ask for permission & we'll see…  
> Feedback: Constructive criticism is always welcome.
> 
> Author’s Disclaimer: "Once Upon a Time," the characters, and situations depicted are the property of Adam Horowitz, Edward Kitsis, Kitsis/Horowitz, and ABC Studios. This piece of fan fiction was created for entertainment not monetary purposes. Previously unrecognized characters and places, and this story, are copyrighted to the author. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author. This site is in no way affiliated with "Once Upon a Time," ABC, or any representatives of the actors.
> 
> Author’s Notes: Okay, so this is legitimately a _HUGE_ project for me. The book this fic is based on is literally my lifetime favorite novel as an adult. I try to reread it on a yearly basis and always fall in love with it. I've taken a few liberties and it won't 100% follow the book, though it'll be close enough for comfort, or discomfort as the case may be. LOL And yes, for those of you who may be curious, this fic ties into another series of mine currently in need of an update. They'll technically be getting updated at the same time, but the other may or may not directly reference this one yet. I'm still working out the details there. That said, I just want to say that Robin is definitely older than Regina here, but the exact age difference is up for debate, so I'm doing my own annual reread now to see if I can better pinpoint it.
> 
>  **Please note:** The relationships and ages of some characters are changed to suit the plot of this fic because reincarnation is real and in play in this fic. So you will see some characters interacting in ways that are not normal in canon or most fanfic. There's a reason for it. Just trust me…
> 
> Dedication: My muses, as usual…
> 
> Beta: I'm not sure what I'd do without Taylor…

Regina steps out of the Temple of the Light, blinking against the harsh light of the noonday sun, lifting a hand to shield her eyes briefly. Her skin already feels clammy from sweat after the blessed coolness of the Temple proper, and a part of her wishes to return, but her duties within are finished and she must find her mentor to continue with her scheduled duties. Graham and the rest of the Twelve are still about their own duties in and about the Temple and its grounds. She won't likely see any of them until they all gather for the evening meal again in their courtyard.

A shiver runs down her spine, an itch forming between her eyes and under her breastbone. It quickens her breath in a way that she knows she can't ignore, but she doesn't understand exactly what it means either. Instead of dwelling on it in the midday heat, she hastens toward the library, unwilling to be seen as shirking her duties. It wouldn't be seemly for the eldest daughter of the Arch-Administrator of the Temple of the Light and an Acolyte of the Twelve to be late. She mustn't bring any shame or dishonor upon her family or the priestly caste into which she was born.

Her sandals slap against the paving stones as she moves quickly, but does her best to appear to be moving at a far more leisurely pace. It is a balancing act that all of the Twelve had to master practically from the start, but Regina felt the need to do so far earlier than her fellow acolytes, given who her father is. The sun beating down on her causes the beginnings of a migraine to stir to life behind her eyes. She takes deep, measured breaths in an attempt to stave off the worst of the impending pain. Once her duties are finished, she can retire to her rooms and rest with a cool cloth over her forehead and eyes. Surely Graham and others will make sure Snow gets her evening meal and is well occupied for the night.

Stepping into the library, she takes a moment to let her eyes adjust to the far dimmer lighting, grateful for the cooler air and the reprieve from the sun's heat. Another shiver races down her spine to explode low in her belly, and she knows with a preternatural realization that it's not just the adjustment to the temperature that causes it. A handful of deep breaths allow her heart to calm again before she continues on her way toward the far end of the large room and the alcove where she knows her mentor is deep in his studies and contemplations.

"Regina." 

Her father's voice pulls her from her thoughts and she stops to look up at him. He's walking toward her from the very recess she intends to visit. There's an odd light in his dark eyes, the same eyes that both she and her younger sister inherited. His dark hair has started to gather more white in recent years, even his beard is beginning to show strands here and there, something she doesn't want to consider, if only for Snow's sake. The loss of their mother in childbirth has been a source of great pain for both Regina and Snow over the years. High Priest Leopold, Arch-Administrator of the Temple of the Light and one of the highest ranking of the priest caste in the Ancient Land, in all of the Sea Kingdom, has never been known to be demonstrative or overly affectionate, not to his wife or his two daughters, nor to anyone else. 

"A pleasant afternoon to you, Father," she replies, dipping into a respectful bow. He may be her father, but he is still Arch-Administer and she a mere Acolyte of the Twelve.

"What are you doing here? Are you shirking your responsibilities?"

"No, Father." She hates the faint quiver in her voice, should be better than that by now. "I'm on my way to see Lord Henry for my lessons."

Leopold nods slowly and moves to step past her, never once touching her or making any overtures that would convince an outsider that they are related. "Be sure that you are doing your best, Regina. I expect nothing less from you _and_ your sister."

"Yes, Father."

She waits silently as he passes her, willing her heartbeat to slow again, and doesn't move until the heavy door opens and closes behind her. Only then does she feel freed from the paralysis her father's presence always invokes. There are days she wishes she had been born to any other member of the priest caste. The moment that thought is formed, shameful regret floods her. She loves her father, even if he cannot love her back as she wishes, loves her family. This wish to be born to someone else is a childish, selfish fantasy and beneath someone of her place and abilities.

Another deep breath or two and a quick swipe under both eyes to catch at the sudden moisture caught in her lashes is all she allows herself to indulge in that fantasy before she continues on toward the alcove where Lord Henry always prefers to do his research. Each step closer to her mentor's presence has a calming effect on her heart and her mind. She knocks lightly on the door as she opens it, needing to be in his presence too much to obey the strictest of protocols to wait to be admitted.

"Regina?" Lord Henry asks, looking up at her from his favorite spot near the window on the far side of the alcove. He's actually in the shadows there, but she can make out the form of another person there, a man by the shape of him, and her heart speeds up again. "My dear, what are you doing here?"

She blinks curiously at that. "It's time for our lessons, Lord Henry. Did you need me to come back at another time?"

"No, child," he says with a smile that she can see doesn't reach his eyes as it usually does. Her heart squeezes painfully at that, then flutters and speeds up again, just as it had earlier. "Come in, come in. It must have slipped my mind."

Now she knows something is amiss. Lord Henry never forgets anything. She moves closer and pauses a few feet away from him and his visitor. Her entire being is abuzz with a nervousness she cannot place or name, nor can she step any nearer to her mentor and father figure. Something is happening, she is as sure of it as she is of the breath filling and collapsing her lungs.

"My child," Henry says in a low voice that has always soothed her, this is Robin of Ahtarrath. He is my brother in the Light and should be accorded the same veneration as me in all respects. Robin, this is Regina, my disciple and an Acolyte of the Twelve."

Regina turns to face the newcomer, ready to give him a respectful greeting, but as her eyes land on his face, the breath is leeched from her lungs and her heart picks up that frantic pace it had earlier when she'd stepped out of the Temple of the Light. She feels her eyes widen as she takes in every detail of him. His dark blonde hair is slightly unkempt and lanky, darkened with need of a wash, his skin is sallow and sunken in on his face that is careworn with age and tribulations, but all she can truly focus on is the intensity of those eyes gone stormy blue. Something deep within tells her instinctively that they are not always that dark, that they change with his moods. She wants nothing more than to fall into those eyes, drown in them for an eternity of lives.

Before she can speak, she feels the need come upon her. Raising her right hand, as if compelled by the gods themselves, she rests it over her heart briefly before lifting it to touch her fingertips to her forehead, directly over her third eye. She knows not where the gesture comes from. No, that's not true. It is a formal greeting given only to those in the highest echelons of the Priests of Light. But what does it mean that she offers this salute to this stranger she's only just met and wants to prostrate herself before?

"Regina?" Once again, Lord Henry's voice pulls her from her thoughts, and she frowns as she sees how pale Lord Robin has become. She wants to go to him, ensure he's all right, but she's rooted in place. "Robin will be staying with me, as my guest, but he will require a scribe. Is that not correct, brother?" From the corner of her eye, she can see Robin nod slowly, his eyes staring straight ahead. "Go then, dear daughter of the Light, and speak with Mother Reul Ghorm to procure a scribe to be available for my brother, Lord Robin, at all times."

"Y-Yes, Lord Henry," she replies breathily, offering one last lingering glance at the handsome Atlantean before scurrying out of the alcove and the Library itself to attend to the task assigned to her. It takes a moment after she's out in the sun's glare again to realize just what kind of impression she must have made on the new visitor to their ranks, and her face flushes hotly. Regina prays she hasn't just brought dishonor to herself, her family, her father, the Priest Caste, or the Temple of Light of the Ancient Land of the Sea Kingdom. 

But by the grace of The Gentle One, she prays that she'll be able to get to know Lord Robin better with time.


	2. Chapter 2

The door no more than closes behind young Regina when Robin feels the temperature of the room drop by several degrees, though he's not sure if it's because of the loss of the young woman's radiant vitality or the conversation he knows is coming. A few notes are sounded in Lord Henry's clear baritone, and Robin feels the shimmer of a magical ward closing around them, protecting the room from eavesdroppers, likely from intruders, as well.

"Are you mad, Robin?" Henry hisses, clearly still needing the privacy despite having erected wards for just such a purpose. "You dare come to the Temple of Light with the taint of the Black Shrine still on you? Do you think me a fool and a willing accomplice to whatever atrocities you wish to offer upon the Priests of Light?"

Robin shakes his head violently, swaying a bit in place from the motion. "It is not as you think, brother. Do not toss about accusations of apostasy or heresy without proof."

"Then tell it to me plain before we are interrupted again. Regina is not likely to keep away for long at this point."

For a moment, Robin is distracted by the brief introduction to the young Acolyte. She touched something in him in those fleeting moments, something he thought had been destroyed when… But no, he mustn't think of that at this time, certainly not when there are others to witness what could happen. He can feel his body begin to shake, the faint trembles of thunder building in his feet and moving upward. It takes another moment to get his emotions under control, will his body and emotions to listen to his mind.

"I was no willing guest of the Black Shrine, Henry, have no fear of that. I was raised in service of the Light, I was trained in service of the Light, and I will die in service of the Light. Make no question of my commitment to my faith and my calling."

"Then tell me, brother, how you came to be in such a vile, foul place."

Robin pauses again and closes his eyes against the onslaught of those painful memories attempting to escape. Faint tremors race down his spine again, and he breathes deeply as he forces himself to remain calm. No point in creating a maelstrom just now. He just needs to hold on a little longer, obtain his goal, and then he can properly rest and be released from this hell.

"I was a prisoner, Henry," he finally says slowly. "I was locked up in the dungeons, tortured and beaten for information that I refused to give them." Just saying those few words, not even attempting to give details of any kind, is difficult and he can feel the tremors coming on again. Taking a deep breath, he lifts his arms, the long sleeves of his robe pulling back to reveal hands mangled and scarred almost beyond recognition. "They did everything they could, short of death, to compel me to divulge the secrets they wanted, to serve the perversions they serve. I resisted with everything in me, for I have one last duty I must fulfill before I can be released from the hell that is the remainder of my life. These" -- he raises his hands up, leaving no question what he is talking about -- "are all that keep death itself away and the maelstroms that rage to be released from within."

Despite his own compassionless explanation of what has happened, Henry's gasp is no surprise to Robin, but merely serves as further clarification of the utter destruction that he suffered at the hands of the sadistic bastards who'd captured him and his younger brother. If only…

"Tell me, Robin, who did this to you?" He sighs explosively when Robin shakes his head, muttering under his breath briefly in what sounds like a possible spell for inner calm. "I'm not sure what you call them in Ahtarrath, but here in the Ancient Land, they're known as Black-robes, profaners of magic and the sacred forces of life and death. They are a secretive lot who scurry in the shadows much like the rodents and roaches do. There is speculation that they hide in plain sight among the Grayrobes, the Magicians Sect, as you'd likely know them, but it's difficult to route them out. They torture for the sake of torture. They revel in the pain of innocents. A curse on all of them for their perversities!"

"No, brother! No Priest of Light dares to profane themselves with curses, surely you know that."

"You speak the truth, brother. But do you know who did this to you?"

Robin sighs softly. "I bore witness to so much within the realms of my torture, including who perpetrated said torture upon me, that now I see nothing and never shall again. But please, Henry, can we speak of other things now?"

"We must--"

"Lord Henry, you know the gods-given powers bestowed upon the male heirs of my royal line. Right now, any talk of what happened will cause me to lose the tenuous control I have on those powers. I do not wish to destroy the Temple of Light nor any of its denizens. Please, brother…" He shifts in his place, turning his face to the warmth of the sunlight coming in through the windows.

Henry lets out an aggrieved sound. "As you wish, Robin. I should go speak with Leopold about this. If there are Black-robes hiding among the Grayrobes, they need to be found and dealt with posthaste. Will you be all right until Regina returns with your scribe?"

"I'll be fine, brother. Do as you must."

*****

The soft knock at the door brings Robin out of his painful contemplations of the horrors he survived and the work he still must accomplish before he can obtain the sweet relief that only death can afford him now. So much is riding on what must happen before he can have that release though, and he's not sure he can survive long enough, but he must. There is no other choice.

"Lord Robin?"

The sweet, lyrical voice of young Regina floats through the door, easing some of the ache in his chest automatically. He cannot understand what this means, or rather he chooses not to understand. It's entirely too much to handle on top of everything else.

"Come in, young Acolyte," he calls out in a far steadier tone than his inner conflicts would reflect.

He can hear the door open and two sets of footsteps coming into the room, drawing closer to him. Both are light, one lighter than the other. The heavier of the two is Regina's, and he curses himself for already recognizing her particular tread. The scent of sun-warmed honey and cinnamon grows stronger, and he recognizes it as Regina's. Marrying with it is the scent of honeysuckle and ginger, an intriguing scent that is comforting in its own right.

"Lord Robin," Regina says softly, "I've returned from the Scribes School. Mother Reul Ghorm has allowed me to bring you a young scribe to have at your disposal day and night. Her name is Snow White, but we call her Snow."

"Regina…" Robin smiles at the petulant voice, notes the similarities in tone to Regina's. "You don't have to tell everyone the story of my birth, do you?"

"I wasn't planning to, puss," she replies. "I merely thought Lord Robin might wish to know your name."

"Oh… My apologies."

"Tell me, little Snow," Robin says with a smile, "are you well-versed in the duties of a scribe? I'm going to need someone to read to me for my research."

"But why, Lord Robin?" she asks, and he can hear the curiosity she's so clearly trying to disguise in her voice. "Can you not read yourself?"

"Snow!" Regina admonishes. "Mind your manners!"

Robin shakes his head with a chuckle. "It's all right, Regina. Little Snow is allowed her curiosity. You should both know the truth regardless, and I'd prefer it come from me. To answer your question, little Snow, I am blind and cannot read the scrolls and tomes myself."

Regina's gasp cuts deeply into his very soul, and he hasn't even shown his hands or any of the other scars he received in his torture. This young woman has so much potential just waiting to be unlocked, he can feel it in his bones, and she should not be subjected to so much sorrow and pain. Nor should her little sister, who has a great destiny about her, as well. He decides to take control of the situation again.

"Little Snow, Lord Henry left me a scroll about the history of the Temple of Light. Would you read it to me? I should like to hear how you've taken to your scribe studies."

"Yes, Lord Robin," she says sweetly.

He can hear her moving around the room, bringing a scribe's stool to settle at his feet with the scroll. He also hears Regina's sweet mezzo soprano sing the notes to activate the spell for light in the room to aid her sister in her reading. She doesn't leave the room, but she doesn't come any closer either. He can feel her presence in the room, lets it wash over him in comforting waves as Snow's words do the same. These sisters, these daughters of Leopold, could well be the balm that he needs to keep him sane enough to withstand the pain until his work is complete.

But will his heart be able to withstand the feelings already growing for Regina?

**Author's Note:**

>   
> 
> 
> **Resources**
> 
>   * Images: [Woman at temple](https://hannahfielding.net/ancient-greek-costumes/), [man in himation](http://www.entretelasvestuario.com/manufacture-tailored-suits/costumes-greek-roman-greece-rome/2nd-century-bc-5th-century-ancient-era-greece-and-rome/greek-himation-mantle-layer-toga-costume-drama/greek-himation-cloak/15), [Robin](https://www.aceshowbiz.com/celebrity/sean_maguire/filmography.html), [Regina](https://shikabane-mai.tumblr.com/post/63842590153/eveparrilla-regina-in-03x03-quite-the-common)
>   * Fonts: Papyrus, Times New Roman
> 



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